Warriors Go 1-1 on Trip to Texas

DALLAS, Texas – Midland University’s women’s lacrosse team travelled down to Texas for a pair of games over the weekend. They took on Southwestern University on Friday and the University of Dallas on Saturday. The Warriors split the weekend, rebounding from an opening 22-10 loss to the Pirates with a 15-7 win over the Crusaders. With the outcomes, Midland’s record now sits at 2-1 on the season.
FRIDAY: Southwestern 22, Midland 10
Southwestern was able to get the scoring started early, as they took a 1-0 lead just :49 into the game. The Warriors responded with a goal from Jaiden Guy to tie the game at one all. Back to back goals by the Pirates gave them a lead of 3-1 before the Warriors retaliated with another goal from Guy.
The Pirates started to distance themselves from the Warriors scoring three goals in a row to give themselves a 5-2 lead. The Warriors would be able to recover with two goals from Riley Yanek, the second of which came off of an Alexis Nelson assist, to cut their deficit to 5-4 with over a little over 19 minutes left to play in the first half.
A 6-1 run by the home team put the game out of reach, increasing their lead to 12-5 with 8:13 remaining in the half. After a goal by Kyleigh Ingalls with 4:34, Southwestern went on a 4-1 run and took a 16-7 lead into halftime.
The second period featured a lot less scoring as a total of nine goals were scored by the two sides. The Pirates rode the momentum they built in the first half through the second, opening the period with a pair of goals. Nelson found the back of the net for her first goal of the game to bring the score to 18-8, but unfortunately the Warriors were unable to cut any further into their deficit.
SATURDAY: Midland 15, Dallas 7
In the final game of the weekend road trip, Midland fell behind Dallas 2-0 in the early going but responded nicely with a 7-0 run to take control of the game. The Warriors’ run started on a much needed goal from Riley Yanek followed by a score from Hannah Scheivert to tie the game with 17:58 on the first half clock.
The run continued with four goals from Yanek with a score from Dominque Hernandez sandwiched in between. That put Midland 7-2 with ten minutes left in the half. The Crusaders were able to get another goal down the stretch before goals by Melissa Niles and Yanek in the final minutes put the Warriors up 9-3 at the intermission.
With the big lead, Midland was able to maintain their lead the second half without being overly aggressive. Five different players scored with goals from Yanek (2), Scheivert, Alexis Nelson, Jessica Trinkle, and Kyleigh Ingalls as the Warriors outscored the Crusaders 6-4 in the second period.
Kayla Colacion got her second win on the year, finishing the game with eight saves.
“The weekend in Texas taught our team a number of lessons,” commented head coach Malia Shimabukuro. “We were challenged in different ways, competing against a strong team like Southwestern. Although the scoreboard didn’t come out what we wanted, we scored in our effort and in not giving up.”
“On Saturday, our team accomplished so much as a team against the University of Dallas. So much beautiful movement happened on offense in which many scoring opportunities were created. These ladies are continuing to grow in working with and for each other, and it makes me so proud.”
Midland (2-1) will have a busy week as they are slated for three conference games this week beginning with a Wednesday afternoon clash with Ottawa (3-0). The Warriors will face the Braves at Heedum Field in Fremont, Nebraska with a 4:00 p.m. start time.